Sumner Redstone

The Mortal Kombat maker announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization for its U.S. operations. In a press release, the company blamed the move on a change in ownership that happened last fall. That change pushed forward the deadline for Midway to pay off some of its debt, an obligation “Midway anticipated it would be unable to satisfy,” the company said in a statement.

“This was a difficult but necessary decision,” Matt Booty, holder of Midway’s hat trick of titles — president, chairman and CEO — said in the statement.

Then, in one of the more humorous assertions ever from a company in such straits, Booty put a positive spin on things: “Midway enters this process with strong underlying fundamentals, as evidenced by solid fourth quarter sales that exceeded expectations.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, media big-shot Sumner Redstone has sold his 87% stake in Midway to some guy named Mark Thomas.

Why is this news?Â Well, for two reasons.

First, Redstone is, to put it lightly, old school.Â I’m not saying that’s a major reason Midway has gone from a powerhouse to the verge of delisting, but his expertise is in older forms of media.Â New ownership could bring a more forward-thinking board of directors which could trickle down to the product and, if we’re lucky, lead to a next-gen NBA Jam.

Second, Mark Thomas bought Midway for $100,000.Â I didn’t forget any zeroes.Â Hundred thousand.Â You couldn’t get a condo for that, but apparently you could have bought Midway.Â The catch of course is that a condo doesn’t come with $70m in debt…